Cooling-tower.



L. R. ALBERGER.

Patented Nov. 22, 1910.

WITNESSES 8 m construction and operation.

tours n. anrnnenm-orennnnwxcn, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO'ALIBEBGER con- DENSEE COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A. CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

- COOLING-TOWER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

-atcnted Nov. 22,1910;

v Application filed October 1, 1909. Serial No. 520,580.

To all whom it may concern: V

Be it known that I, Louis B. ALBERGER, a

- citizen of the United States of America, re-

sidingat Greenwich, in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in a Cooling-Towers, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

y presentinvention relates to an im-' provement in cooling towers, the function of which is to cool water or watery liquid, or some other similar liquid, by distributing it in such a mannerthata large surface will be exposed and acted upon by a current or currents of air. The invention relates more particularly to that special type of cooling towers in which the'liquid is spread out or sprinkled .over surfaces formed by boards geometrically'arranged in a regular manner in the tower or over other surfaces provided by the use of wire-cloth, earthenware, or other materials, and in which the air is drawn through the filling and then discharged to the atmosphere by means of afan or mechanical ventilator; and the invention further relates tothat kind of a cooling tower in which the action of the fan may'be discontinued when desired and the flow of air obtained by a natural draft through the actlon of a stack or chimney, in order that the best results may be obtained with the sim-' plest construction, and so that the same tower" may at one time be operated with a mechanical circulation of the air, and at another time by a natural draft,'and at another by a combination of the two circulations.

In my co-pending' application for Letters Patent for cooling towers, filed Oct. 1, 1909, Serial No. 520,579, I have described examples of this type of cooling tower, and in the res- I ent invention I. am extendin and app ying the same principle in a di erent form of .mechanism with certain added features of Among many objects which might be men:

tioned, a leading object of the present in- Vention is to enable the conversion of the tower from a natural draft to'an artificial draft towerto takeplace at practically the fan in its operative position in the tower, that is to say, "for transferring it from its non-obstructive or idle position to its active position, and also in meansfor applying the fan situated in its active position in said stack and representing also the hydraulic arrangement for lifting the fan from its idle osition below the stack to its active positlon therein. Fig. 2 is a similar detail partial view in partial section of an alter- 'tower having an elevated stackand showing I native arrangement of means for lifting by 1 hydraulic pressure the fan from its inactive and non-obstructive position below the stack to its live position in the stack. Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional detail of the hydrauliccylinder shown in Fig. 1, the-pressure within which lifts the fan and its shaft.

Similar characters of reference designate corresponding prarts throughout the different figures of the' awing.

1 desi nates the main shell of a cooling tower. ft is cylindrical in formand may be of any suitable material. Above the main shell 1 is a conical'section 2. which reaches from the, diameter of the main shell 1 to the smaller diameter of a superposed stack or draft chimney 3 which may be elevated toany desired height and is employed for fproducing a natural draft. I present this orm of shell and stack, however, only as specimens, and with no idea of being restricted thereto, for obviously the invention is applicable to other forms, including the form m which the entire tower may have the same diameter throu hout.- Inside of the main shell 1- is a filling 4 occupying the interior of the shell from the bottom up to a suitable point below the conical section 2, and consisting of any desired material such as 1s customarily employed ,for this purpose.

5 denotes a ipewhich conveys. to the tower the heated water which is to be cooled.

enters the lower portion of the tower and or any other suitablewater motor.

i then passes'up centrally therein, having at its upper end a distributer 6 consisting of several horizontal perforated arms through which the water has exit and can spread in a sheet or spray over the top of the filling, downwardly through which it passes. At

' therbase of the-shell 1 is a foundation 7 having piers on which the shell rests. In this foundation is a well or receptacle 8that receives the water falling downwardly from above through the filling, said receptacle 8 1 having av removal pipe 9Ythrough which thewater is carried'ofl". In the foundation 7 and isa piston: 24:"whibh carries a step-bearing around the bottom periphery of the shell 1 are openings or interstices 10 between the piers. through which the atmospheric air passes intothe bottom of the shell 1 and thenceupwardly to the tower. There may be any desired number of the openings 10 devised and applied in any preferred way, provided'only the object is gained of admittlnfi all at the base of the'tower. From-the -we 8' leads a-pipe '21which extends to a cenftrifugal pump'22 o eratedby a suitable mo- 11: denotes an example of; fan which. is

mounted on a. vertical shaft 1 2; In the ex-- ample of the invention, illustrated in. Fig. 1, this shaft 12: also carries thePelton water wheel 15 or other suitable motor. Motor 15 actua-tes the shaft 12 and thus drives the fan- 11; '16" denotes a hydraulic cylinder of any'suitable kind which is-supported by .theframework at 131 Within cylinder 16 T that receives the lower end, of the shaft are idle and inactive.

12, thus permitting: shaft 12 to rotate in the step-bearing and uponthe piston 24. The movement of. the piston" up and down obviously'carries withit; the shaft 12 and the water motor 15 and fan,1 1-, wh ich in the resent example are described as securely astened to; said shaft. Fan 11 and motor l5 are shownin' Fig. 1 in full lines in their act lve'bperative position, and in clbtted lines 1n'tfhe= position that the occupy-when they p 'en' the fan 11 is lIl' 1ts-act1ve position it=fills the 'stacl'r'3, as shown, and when rotated creates an artificial draft: In its inactivepositiom't-his fan is sufiiciently below th e-st-ackflto-be out of 'the way so that it willnot. obstruct the' passage ofrt-he-a1r-fiowing-*through the tower as the result offanaturaI -draft; -When=the= motor to their active position.

15 is elevated to its active position, comes directly opposite to the nozzle 19 where the jet of water issuing therefrom can impinge upon the blades of the motor and thus actuate the latter. The introduction of water pressure into the cylinder 16 below the piston 24- results in lifting ,vtheshaft l2'f'ancl thus raising the fan into the stack and,

lifting the motor 15 to a point where-Pthe water jet will drive the, same This introduction .of pressure into the cylinder-.16 may beaccomphshed in avariety .of ways,'{,'and one means for so doing consists of a pipe 17 entering the cylinder 16 near the lower end'thereof and connecting with some suitable source of water supply, as, for instance, the water. pipe 18 which runs from the centrifugal pump 22. Cylinder pipe 17 is preferably provided with a valve 20 outv side the tower for controlling the water passing through it. By opening the valve 20 and allowing the water pressure to enter the cylinder 16, the piston 24 and shaft 12 will be raised, the fan placed in active position in the stack, and the motor lifted to the point where it will receive its actuating pressure. The operation of the centrifugal pump 22 thus in this arrangementiof parts supplies water through the pipe 18 to drive the motor 15, and also supplies the pressure which is taken through the pipe 17 to the hydraulic'cylinder to lift the motor and fan it is not necessary, of course, for the motor 15 to be always changed from. one position to another, for obviously an arrangement may be made wherein 'saidmotor will remain at all times in the same horizontal plane, and, of course,.will only become active when the water jet impinges thereon, while the fan will be movable relatively to the motor. In 'Fig. 2, I" have shown anralternative arrangement offlmy invention wherein such is the case, the'motor, as 29, not being lifted up and down with the fan"; and the fan shaft, as 31, not being ,vert-ically movable; while the fan 26 is susceptible of beingchanged from an inactiveand unobstructive position tO'fiLII, active positionin the stack. In Fig. 2-the-same form of stack,is=

indicated as is shown in-Figi 1, havifigthe shell 1, the conical-part 2, andthe-superposed natural, draft stack-31 The fan 26 is provided with 'a cylinder 28 securelyfastened thereto in some suitable way, whichcylinder has a vertical play in a bearing 27 supported in the stack *5.- I

v 31 denotesa rotary shaft which is hollow and has apipe 30 running entirely through its length; The upper end of the-shaft 31- has a ring-or disk 32': thereon which 'fitsinto the interior: ofit-hefan carrying cylinder I 28. Thus the shaft 31 passes'throu h the lower" end of the cylinder 28, and sai cylinder is movable up and. down on. theshaft and on the disk 32. Likewise on the shaft 31 is the Pelton water wheel or other motor 29 which is similarto the motor of Fig.1.

Motor 29 is fixed on shaft 31 so as to revolve securing it at 'anfy therewith, and is provided with means for desired position in the vertlcal length 0 shaft 32, not being ad- ]ustable up and down on the shaft except by changing the securing means, so that-the motor remains in position to be driven by the water jet issuing from the nozzle 19 on the end of the supply pipe 18 whenever the pump 1s in operation and pressure is supphe The fan 26, however, is splined or feathered to the shaft 31, as shown at 34, in order that it may readily move up and down thereon, and at the same time w1ll be so secured thereto as to revolve therewith when the shaft is driven. Shaft.31 has its lower end supported in the step bearing 33 car-' ried by a partof the framework. .The upper end of the pipe which passes through the center of the shaft of the cylinder 28. It will be apparent, therefore, that when the pressure from the pump is passed through the pipe 30 and dellvered into the interior of the cylinder 28, the result will be to lift said cylinder up .into' the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, the cylinder carrying with it the fan 26, so that the latter will betransferred from its idle position to an active position in the stack. In this case," as in the pipingin Fig.

1, the pipe 30 which carries water to the supply pipe 18, and is preferably furnished with a controlling valve 33 outside of the --tower. Any suitable centrifugal, turbine, or

other pump may be utilized for pum ing the water through the pipe 18 in the firm of the invention shown in Fig. 2 in like man ner as is done in Fig. 1.

Although I have represented two ways in which hydraulic pressure may be conveyed to the operatingmechanism forthe purpose .of transferring the fan from an inactive to an active location, yet it will be manifest time,

that the. invention is susceptible of many other modifications. A hydraulic cylinder. 1s only one example of means that can be employed for utilizing the proper actuating pressure whereby the fan can be placed in active position at t motor ls started. Obviously from the foregoing explanation when the pressure is in I der, the fan will drop from one position to the other and obviously will cease to operate the moment the pressure is withdrawn 31 opens into the interior .e same timethat thefrom'the motor. When the fan drops down into its inactive position, thenatural draft will be allowed to pass through the tower. Many variations in the construction and arrangement of the hydraulic cylinder, as also of the other parts, may be made without departing fromtheinvention so long as the idea is preserved of employing. a pump or fluid-pressure means for transferring the fan from its nonobstructive or idle position to its active and operative position, as this forms the essential idea of the invention. Sometimes the fan is driven by the water motor, but it 'is conceivable that it may be actuated by other means; and I therefore reserve the liberty of driving vit in any des1red way provided fluid pressure is availed 50f for the purpose of changing the position of the fan from being idle to being active. 4 The two functions of changing the position of the fan, and also of actuating it, may take place at practically the same tlme, but they may also occur at different times, and sometimes they may occur through the same pressure system, which latter is susceptible of more or less modification in the accompl1shment of the result in view. The hydraulic cylinder shown may be used with a1r or other fluid pressure, and other means may be employed for using water, air or other 95, kinds of fluid pressure.

Having thus, described my inventlon, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Let- ,7 ters Patent, is: cylinder 28 connects w1th the main water 1. In'a cooling tower, the combination with a shell, of a stack for produclng a natural draft, a fan for drawing air through the shell, a fan-actuating water motor, and fluid-pressure means for actuatingthe motor and for placingthe fan in operative position.

2. In a cooling tower, the combinatlon .with a stack susceptible of producing at times a natural draft, of a fan for d awing the air through the tower, and a hy raullc pump for actuating the fan and for placing 1t 111 an operative position.

3. In a cooling tower, the comblnatlon with a shell and a filling therein, of a mechani'cal agency for creating a draft, said agency being transferable from an active 1 5- position to an idle position, in which latter a natural draftispermitted, a-motor for actuating said agency when in its active position, and means for driving sald motor and for-placing the draft-creating agent in its operative position. i

4. In a cooling tower, the combinatlon with a'shell and a filling therein, of a natural draft stack, a fan capable of drawing air through the shell, a fan-actuating watermotor, and a hydraulic pump for drivingthe motor and placing the fan in position to create an artificial )draft.

5. In a cooling tower, the combination with a shell, of astack for producing a natural draft, a. fan for drawing air through 'the shell, a fan-actuating water-motor, and means for placing the motor and fan in active position and removing them therefrom.

' 5 r 6. In a cooling tower, the combination with a shell anda-filling therein, of a fan located above the filling, a natural draft stack, a fan-actuating water-motor, a shaft 7 carrying the fan and the motor, a; cylinder 19 receiving pressure for the purpose of lifting the shaft and placing the fan and motor in active position, and means for supplying water pressure to the motor. I

7. In a cooling tower, the combination 15 with a. stack susceptible of producing at times a natural draft,of a fan for drawing the air through the tower,.and fluid-pressure means for placing it in its operative posi- I tion.

8. in a cooling tower, the combination with a shell and a filling therein,. of a mechanical agency for creating a draft, means 1 for actuatin it, and fluid-pressure means for transferrlng it from an idle posltion to an active position.

9. In a coolingtower, the combination" In testimon whereof Ia'flix my signature in presence 0 two witnesses..

Louis B. ALBEBGER.

Witnesses:

R. M. HorKINs, W. S. DORAN. 

